High-Dividend Shares Lead Markets Lower

The stock market closed lower on Wednesday, led by the same industry groups that had the biggest gains early in the year: rich dividend payers like power utilities and makers of consumer staples.

Rising bond yields have been an important factor behind that shift.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is near the highest it has been in 13 months after a sharp increase on Tuesday. That is giving investors who want steady income an alternative to dividend-rich stocks. Investors piled into those stocks at the beginning of the year, when bond yields were close to historic lows.

More broadly, after this year’s powerful bull run — the Dow Jones industrial average is up 16.8 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 15.6 percent — investors may be running out of reasons to keep plowing money into the stock market.

“There’s a vacuum of catalysts to continue to push,” said Sam Stovall, chief United States equity strategist for S&P Capital IQ. Now, Mr. Stovall said, investors are wondering: “Well, should I take some profits and sit on the sidelines and then get back in?”

The Dow closed down 106.59 points at 15,302.80, a loss of 0.7 percent. That decline matched its advance the day before, when it closed at a high, the ninth time it has done so this month. The Dow was down as much as 179 points in late morning trading, then rose moderately in the afternoon.

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The S.& P. 500 index was down 11.70 points to 1,648.36, also 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq composite lost 21.37 points to 3,467.52, or 0.6 percent.

“At some point, interest rates will go up, and that’s obviously having some impact on stocks,” said Erik Davidson, deputy chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “And you’re seeing it in the sectors that you would expect. The hardest sectors hit recently have been the more dividend-driven stock sectors.”

In commodities trading, the price of crude oil fell $1.88, or 2 percent, to $93.13. Gold rose $12.20, or 0.9 percent, to $1,391.30 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen.

The price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 14/32, to 96 23/32, and the yield fell to 2.12 percent from 2.17 on Tuesday.

A version of this article appears in print on May 30, 2013, on Page B2 of the New York edition with the headline: High-Dividend Shares Lead Markets Lower. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe